New Healthcare Flexible Expense Account Benefit Registration will take place between March 3rd and 31st, 2025. Service members can spend $3,300 on pre-tax revenues as much as $3,300 each year.
“A flexible healthcare spending account is the advantage of the option that allows service members and their families to use pre-tax income to pay for eligible health, dental and visual care costs,” said Ronald T. Garner, assistant director of military compensation policies within the Department of Defense.
Garner said that married service members eligible for HCFSA can maintain two separate accounts and contribute $6,600 each year.
Component Services members, reserves and national security guards for active guard reserve work, and members of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve that are active for more than 180 days are all eligible to participate.
The HCFSA is already available to federal civilian employees and many people in the private sector, but is now available to service members. Garner said that was something the department has been working on for a while. He says Tricare is an extensive program, but it can't cover everything. In some cases, HCFSA may be useful.
“No healthcare or health insurance programs cover any costs, and many costs are unexpected,” he said. “For example, if your child gets sick in the middle of the night, you don't wait until you can see a doctor to get some cold medicine, you can run to your local pharmacy and get some cold medicine and take care of your child.
Eligible service members need to take a closer look at their financial situation and how much they expect to spend on healthcare costs each year before deciding on contributions, he said, adding that some service members are more likely to benefit from the HCFSA than others.
“In my experience, I would say this is really valuable to military families,” he said. “For example, I think there's a lot of value to those who have families who are participating in exceptional family programs. I think these families tend to bear a lot of costs and often unexpected costs that others don't.
Registration for programs like HCFSA usually occurs only during federal benefits from mid-November to mid-December. With the announcement of new HCFSA benefits for service members, a special registration period is available from March 3rd to 31st, 2025.
Garner said that during other periods of the year, a series of qualifying life events also allow service members who have not yet signed up for the HCFSA to register outside of the typical open season. These life-changing events include unfolding, permanent changes to the station, marriage, or the birth of a child.
According to DOD's “Military Community Demographic Profile for 2023”, approximately 46.7% of service members are married, and approximately 36.7% of service members have children they rely on. For these members, it is a contribution to military preparation for their families to care for them and ensure their financial situation is squared, Garner said.
“When families become more financially safer, the strength is more prepared and fatal,” he said. “When service members have to worry too much about family welfare and financial welfare, they are more focused on missions, and I think it only benefits the organization.”
The use of HCFSA is lowering overall taxable income for some service members and putting more money in their pockets to spend in other areas, Garner said. And that means those military families will have more confidence in them to take care of them.
“These men and women have given us a part of our lives to serve our country and serve our fellow citizens, and I think that certainly deserves recognition,” Garner said. “We get better when we care about the welfare of our service members, as it affects our mission as well as our country and its service members and their families.”
Before registering with the HCFSA, service members should talk to a military tax expert, DOD personal financial manager, or personal financial counselor to learn how to use their account and how it benefits them. These services are available free of charge to service members.
